


Summer Chills

by Renesis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I don't know how to tag this without giving it all away, Not Beta Read, Reader-Insert, Uhh a gentle attempted wig snatching?, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26948386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renesis/pseuds/Renesis
Summary: This August month would be the summer of Atsumu's seventh year with you.Another summer season of lazy days at the beach, of barbeques surrounded by his and your friends, roaring and throwing back beer and tequila in laughter, Osamu grilling food to perfection for everyone, of sharing ghost stories around a campfire with you huddled safely in his arms......
Relationships: Miya Atsumu/Reader
Comments: 37
Kudos: 94





	Summer Chills

**Author's Note:**

> I...lost the direction of this halfway through writing because I dropped it for about 2 months but...I really wanted to finish it nonetheless HAHA I cannot work on Ghosts We See if I did not do something about this first.  
> Not too sure how I feel about this as it started off experimental and then I tried to make it coherent to various levels of success? ahahaha
> 
> But uhhh, yeah, enjoy? I **really** hope you all enjoy this TwT
> 
> Also posted on Tumblr.

It is a hot summer night and the heat of the season pulsated in the evening air even without the sun. Young adults hopped from bar to bar with cheap cans of convenience store _chu-hais_ , and salarymen sang in their drunken stupor, stumbling on their swaying feet, sweat sticking to their skin and clothes. 

This August month would be the summer of Atsumu's seventh year with you.

Another summer season of lazy days at the beach, of barbeques surrounded by his and your friends, roaring and throwing back beer and tequila in laughter, Osamu grilling food to perfection for everyone, of sharing ghost stories around a campfire with you huddled safely in his arms.

Another August of sultry nights cuddling to the serenade of cicadas, of trips to theme parks and screaming in fearful thrills at cheap jump scares in haunted houses. A month of Atsumu laughing whilst he wiped away your frightful tears that spilled when the last poorly costumed ghost chased your running figures down the final corridor to freedom; of your giggles and gasps as you stumble away from the exit with Atsumu's arm on your shoulder, of you hollering at his ghastly face on the attraction photo screen; another thousand yen photo souvenir to line the apartment wall. 

It would be the summer of his seventh year with you and Atsumu wanted to celebrate the way the two of you always did: with good food, drinks, and a bit of a scare before heading home for the night.

And ever since Osamu opened his restaurant, good food for him and you have always been Onigiri Miya.  
And tonight, on what would be your seventh anniversary, that was no different.

“It’s been forever since we came here!” You exclaimed as you pored over the menu together with Atsumu. It’s something you did as a habit and Atsumu only ever looked to entertain you. He already knows what he wants; just like anything else in life. 

With a large wave of his hand, Atsumu flagged down his brother from the other side of the store.

“Yo, ‘Samu! The usual and one of this,” Atsumu drawled, draping the red jersey that was in his lap across you seated next to him.

Atsumu knew how susceptible to the cold you were, especially when the two of you were about to embark on another one of your “Scary Date Nights,” like tonight. You always get cold after receiving a good scare, and Atsumu is no different though he much preferred to take in the heat from you once his jersey did its job and warmed you up.

“Well I wasn’t expectin’ to see yer here tonight,” Osamu commented as he began preparing the two orders, all the while looking at Atsumu from over the countertop.

You smiled at Osamu, leaning your cheek into a propped arm as Atsumu conversed merrily with his brother who he hasn’t seen in a while. 

You didn’t speak much, preferring to watch the two brothers catch up instead. It’s been some time since you saw either brother, and you were more than happy to just be able to see them laugh and grumble at each other, cherishing each moment you have with them and branding it into your heart. You’ve known the twins ever since your high school days in Hyogo, but moments like this grew few and far apart in between as time passed and all of you grew older. 

It didn’t take long for the proprietor of Miya Onigiri to serve up two beautifully prepared plates of onigiris. He eyed his brother from his space across the narrow bar as said blonde twin immediately began chowing down on his tuna onigiri, brows and lips pulled into two opposing emotions.

“Ah- I missed ‘Samu’s onigiri! It feels like forever since I had it!” You exhaled a happy sigh, blissfully looking at your own plate of food. How long has it been since you saw Osamu and his legendary onigiris? A year?

Atsumu hummed in agreement with you and through a mouthful of food, praised his brother’s cooking. “It’s so _gooood-_ ”

In your excitement, Atsumu’s old volleyball jersey from his high school days shifted in your lap with your movements, nearly falling off. But a quick hand had reached out to catch it from behind you and pulled it back up. Looking up, you thanked Osamu who had come around the counter to put a glass of water down on the table.

Osamu didn’t say anything, merely rubbed his fingers on the cloth with a nostalgic smile.

Osamu raised an amused brow as he walked back around the counter, and there was a glimmer in his eye as Atsumu’s onigiri quickly disappeared.

The familiar red jersey lightly fluttered under the artificial winds of the air conditioning above, and Osamu’s eyes softened once more at the sight of it. It’s been years since he even set eyes on his own pair, packed away in a box somewhere but Atsumu is often seen with his, especially at this time of the year due to you. 

People always thought Atsumu is the more sentimental of the two whenever they see the jersey Atsumu specially kept for you hung on his arms. But knowing the history of the jersey for his brother and you, Osamu can’t blame them for thinking so.

He still remembered the very first time he saw you wear his brother’s jersey, and Osamu knows full well that Atsumu remembers it too. 

Because it was the same night that Atsumu kissed you for the very first time.

✺✺✺✺✺

It had been a humid summer night just like this when Atsumu first kissed you, before he ever gave voice to his feelings for you and you to him. 

Perhaps it was never needed, as all was said and told in his lingering looks your way and your gentle touches fluttering atop his arm, the warmth of your body that always sat next to his in group gatherings; in your common fears of ghosts and all things that go bump in the night, in your mutual love for the thrill that comes with a chilling horror movie; in shared moments of your shrieking lungs at the fourth zombie to jump out at your frozen figures, grunting with a lolling tongue for Atsumu to push you along in whatever haunted house you found yourselves in, your terrified figures holding up the ride, and your hand held tightly in his.  
  


It was a sweltering summer night like tonight when someone from your year came up with the silly idea to do a _kimodameshi_ , a Test of Courage, for your last summer of high school before everyone parted ways for a bit of time, and for good. 

Drawing lots, Atsumu and you were the third pair to walk through the dark forest, jittery with anticipation for the cheap scares and tricks your fellow classmates have prepared.

You had screeched your heart out and latched tightly onto Atsumu's arm, muttering and wishing for the stupid test to end. His own arms were trembling, whether from the latest eerily well-done scare or from the crushing awareness of your hot skin wrapped around his, neither of you had been sure. 

At the time, Atsumu wasn't sure which he preferred for you to think it was either. 

He figured it didn't matter though, when the second to last spook of the silly test had both of you jumping into each other's arms, your shivering figure cowering into his. 

Atsumu had cursed himself through the entire ordeal for wearing his team jersey on a humid summer night, but the thought of going into the forest gauntlet filled with his scheming classmates _and_ his brother, who will surely be out to get him, with naught but the shirt on his back unnerved him, even if he rather die before he admitted it. 

But at that moment, as he instinctively lifted the loose sides of his jersey to wrap around you, shielding you from the spectral caresses of the wind and Osamu's cackling voice in the darkened woods, Atsumu was very thankful that he wore his jersey that night. 

He faintly registered that your skin felt cold against his heated skin, the effects of the midnight winds and not having a jacket.

And when you lifted your red eyes and sniffling nose to apologize for your less than heroic display, Atsumu thought you looked beautiful in the dim moonlight and shade of trees; perfect enfolded in his sweaty jersey with the heat of his body and sweat of your skin warming up the bubble cocooning you and him.

It was a muggy summer night when Atsumu first kissed you and you kissed right back.

To the slow change in the rhythm of your heart, from _thudthudthudthud_ to _ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump_ , in the safety net of Atsumu's jersey and scent. 

In Atsumu's own chest, his heart's rhythm changed too, to the opposite beat of yours, going from _ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump_ to _thudthudthudthud,_ with the spread of a nervous smile and an eager thought of _finally_.

It had been thoroughly hot, humid, disgusting, sticky, and felt completely right. 

✺✺✺✺✺

“So where are yer headed after this?” Osamu asked, gray eyes watching the way Atsumu’s eyes crinkled and a lopsided smile tugged at his cheeks; he had a vague idea of what his brother was reminiscing about. Only thoughts of you could create such a dopey look on his annoying twin’s face. 

Osamu knew his twin very well. Sometimes, better than Atsumu knew himself. And Osamu couldn’t help but think Atsumu looks way too happy across from him, sitting in his and your usual seat in his shop.

Osamu’s happy that Atsumu is happy, but he can’t help but wonder what made him more cheerful than usual, especially during this month of the year.

There shouldn’t be anything good about August.

Atsumu grinned at the sight of you leaning back in your seat with a satisfied expression, your hands draped on your stomach. He patted his own full belly before stretching an arm to drape across the back of your chair, looking at Osamu as he did so.

“Gonna go check out that limited time haunted escape game they’re havin’ at this department store.” 

“Ah, that one, where they open the department store after hours for participants? Ya’ sure you’ll last the night?” One of Osamu’s brows raised skeptically. “Who else are ya’ goin’ with?”

“Nah, no one else,” Atsumu replied, reaching out to take a bite from the onigiri that remained on your plate. “Don’t need some other scrubs to get in the way of completin’ the escape on time.”

Mouth still chewing on rice, Atsumu stood and reached to take the jersey from you who happily let him, your eyes softening and heart warm with how well Atsumu always treated you.

He’s tough and straightforward, and many perceive that as mean but...it’s just Atsumu.

People’s opinions will not hold sway over him and what he does.

And how he feels.

As Atsumu reluctantly paid for your meal at the register, you smiled widely at Osamu rolling his eyes at his brother’s complaints of having to pay. Family should eat for free, is what he loved to say.

“Thank you for the meal, ‘Samu. It was really delicious!” You waved your hand in farewell, a fond smile for Osamu on your lips as you took in his droopy eyes, slightly fatigued from the long day, but ever kind and steady.

You don’t know when you, or Atsumu, will next see him. But you felt that you didn’t need to worry too much; Atsumu always tries to visit his brother as much as he can, even if he claims it is only because he knew Osamu misses him. 

In any case, Atsumu will see him more often than you can, as it should be.

Atsumu slid the entrance door open, leaning against the frame with his arm propped on the top, as if he was waiting for you.  
You ducked underneath his arm to get through as Atsumu exchanged his own goodbyes with Osamu, muttering about how he’ll pop by Osamu’s place early tomorrow morning.

“Sure, have fun. See yer tomorrow.”

The door closed after Atsumu, and Osamu turned to clean off the plates and mess his brother left behind. He paused ever so briefly at the leftovers of the second onigiri Atsumu had ordered, with only one bite taken, in the shape of Atsumu’s greedy mouth.

And frowned.

What a waste.

✺✺✺✺✺

You would love this, Atsumu thought with a smile full of adoration, and nostalgia, as the scenes of the past summers with you played in a reel in his mind; filled with exciting excursions they were, with paid creepy ghoulies, your shouts and his yelps, quiet sniffles breaking through laughter and his old jersey wrapped around you, even years after graduation. 

No matter how much both of you hated it during the scares and threatened never doing it ever again, it has become a tradition for Atsumu and you to spend summer doing everything classically terrifying. From gag-horror flicks to themed escape games, the two of you will fill your hearts with the chill of the unknown and throw your bodies into the stifling August night air.

It has been a while since you two went to an escape game, a haunted themed one at that. 

He had seen the advertisements and reviews for it from weeks before, and the first thing Atsumu thought is that it is perfect for your usual summertime traditions.

Unfortunately, in the August of last year and the year before that (... _and_ the year before that), you and Atsumu only had enough time to go to one.

The game master’s voice droned throughout the empty Concorde of the department store with a long list of rules and instructions, how everyone would be locked in the building from 11pm till 4am, how they might win the game, and where the safe zones are; but Atsumu didn’t care for any of that.

Atsumu is aware that he isn’t feeling very competitive tonight, unlike how he usually would be when it came to events like these.

Tonight, his focus was on his time with you rather than competing with the other pairs of scrubs locked in the building for the next five hours.

Atsumu smiled down at you excitedly rolling on the balls of your feet next to him as you waited for the game to start. 

It’s really been a while since he saw you.

His hold on your connected hands tightened; just ever so slightly but for a professional athlete like Atsumu, it was a strong grip and it should have been hard enough to make others react.

But not you.

It didn’t matter how busy he was or where in the world he was with the team; his thoughts always came back to you more than they should. A lot of people and everyone frequently thought it is in their place to tell Atsumu that he shouldn’t think about you this much, that it has progressively gotten worse with him over the years- beginning from three years ago-, that it is unhealthy and detrimental to him but Atsumu didn’t care. 

The opinions of others will never influence or change what Atsumu wanted to do, and wanted to 

And what he wants to do is love you, and think about you, as much as his body and mind would allow him to.

Opinions and health be damned.

It’s the summer of Atsumu’s seventh year anniversary with you and whilst others' loves may wane with time, Atsumu’s love for you has only continued to burn stronger and brighter with each August that passes.

Atsumu wore his jersey in place of you as the two of you worked your way through the escape game. Running a hand down the open flaps, a far-away glaze rolled onto the colors of your eye, and Atsumu rubbed a calloused finger on your cheek when he saw it.

“It brings back memories,” you murmured, nuzzling your cold cheeks into his chest. You pulled the flaps over the sides of your head, and Atsumu raised his hands to press the jersey into him and you. 

“Yeah,” Atsumu murmured in turn, bending and pressing his nose to the top of your head. 

It’s exactly like that time in the forest- a lifetime ago- except you weren’t shivering in fear right now. You still felt cold like you did then though.

In that moment, Atsumu thought he’ll never get tired of this bubble that only you have the exclusive rights to make with him.

Atsumu is well aware of the eyes of the people around him, but he didn’t care what they were thinking about. Whether they were wondering if he is who they think he is, or thought he looks strange bent with his jersey bunched in his hands, he didn’t care.

There is only the faint scent of you and the cold touch of your fingers under his shirt.

And that is all that mattered to him, always and forever.

✺✺✺✺✺

It is after hours at midnight at the department store and despite the horde of couples and groups of friends permeating the dim building filled with faceless mannequins and gaudy horror decor, the place still felt empty enough that you and Atsumu had enough privacy from possible judging, prying eyes.

Like the ones from earlier, before the game even started.

Once in a while, a scream from several floors up would echo down and the thundering of hectic footsteps beat off the walls and glass of the hollow stores.

Tugging Atsumu along, you went from clue to clue, occasionally passing by other participants in their pairs and groups, who never failed to turn to look at Atsumu with tilted heads and inquisitive blinks.

A group in the vicinity of a clue you were busy trying to solve had even approached Atsumu when you had your back turned a little ways away, asking if he wanted to join them.

“It’ll be more fun in a large group than alone.”

“Nah, I’m good. Not here alone. Thanks.”

When they left with hesitant nods of their heads, Atsumu turned around to find you standing several steps behind him with a tiny smile. 

Small, but lovely as ever, he thought. But he didn’t miss the way you momentarily glanced away, hesitant, before approaching him.

“You sure about not joining them? They are right that it is more fun in a larger group.”

Atsumu scoffed. “Pfft, it wouldn’t be fun with scrubs like them. ‘Sides, I have ya'.” He grinned, pulling you into his side and burying you into the folds of the red Inarizaki jersey that no longer falls in perfect waves around him but instead pulled tautly across his shoulders and arms.

You pulled at the sleeve around his wrist with a sad frown. “It’s a bit tight, isn’t it?”

Atsumu shrugged in response, reaching to take your chilly fingers and palm into his warm hands. 

“It’s fine. Still fits.” 

“Barely.” You quipped.

“If it fits, I wear it.” A grin and a tap on your cheek. 

“Like a cat in a box?” 

“Exactly!” 

Your steps faltered, almost pausing, but Atsumu’s hold on your hand pulled you along to his slow gait. 

“...don’t you think it’s about time you put this away?” 

At your words though, Atsumu stopped and you thought you might have upset him. But he merely squinted at you with a childish glare and stretched his free arm out and waved it up and down, a show of his ease of movement in the old red jersey. 

“Why? It still fits!”

Your brows turned up at the silly sight of his flailing arm.

You couldn’t disagree with him that it still fits but...anyone with an eye can see that it is much too tight at the shoulders for his broad form that has filled, grown, and turned stronger over the years since high school; that the red sleeves stopped higher up on his forearms and the ends of the jersey hung at his hips rather than below.

With a purse of your lips, you reluctantly acquiesced if only to dispel the kicked puppy look on his beloved face and squeezed his hand, giggling at the victorious grin stretching his lips.

Looking up at him next to you, a heavy reminder of how much you love this man and how much you missed him washed over you, tiding over your heart with the force and chill of a crashing winter’s tsunami.

Passing by another empty store, you looked at Atsumu smiling at the space where you walked next to him through the reflection of the glass.

You shivered, and the window of the store next to you fogged when you passed by and idly ran your fingers on the glass. 

You wish you could wear that red jersey now.

✺✺✺✺✺

It is now 3am and there is only an hour left for you to finish the escape, and the screams and chaos in the department store had gradually crescendoed to a climax.

Except for you and Atsumu. 

Though you went about solving the puzzles at a solid pace, a languid air hung around your closely entwined forms; Atsumu with his hands in the pockets of his jersey and your arms wrapped around his elbow, head barely touching his shoulder.

The sounds of his sneakers squeaking on the floor is sharp but slow against the pattering footsteps of terrified participants and the ghosts that have since emerged to hinder them.

It is only when a hideously costumed ghost appeared before you two that you and Atsumu rushed and made a break for it. Atsumu is fine with just enjoying the time with you but he was not going to be willingly kicked out of the running.

“Are you sure you don’t want to run towards the next puzzle piece? We have less than an hour to finish this,” you whispered with a kiss into his arm.

“If yer really want to, but I’m enjoyin’ this.” He placed a kiss on your forehead.

You giggled and pinched his tapered cheek. “I still remember the times when you would leave me behind so you can clear the puzzles before I do.”

Atsumu winced with a cheeky laugh as he was unwillingly assaulted with memories of the countless times he did run ahead of you, not just in escape games, to finish something before you could catch up.

He _is_ a competitive person at his core.

Just not tonight.

Because tonight isn’t about him. 

Atsumu pulled you to a stop and wrapped you inside his jersey, a content sigh puffing from his lips at the presence of you. Instinctively, you wrapped your arms around his waist, snuggling yourself further into the bubble that never failed to warm your body and heart.

Just as Atsumu was about to lean to capture your lips in another series of kisses that he has continuously rained on you through the short night, a ‘ghost’ leaped out from the side corridor behind him with a shrill cry that caught Atsumu off guard and had you reflexively screaming into his shirt.

“Argh-!!”

Bloody ghosts! With an indignant glare at the ghostly actor that wasn’t even all that scary now that Atsumu got a better look, Atsumu sprinted down the wide hall and down an escalator. For a pro athlete like him, it didn’t take long for him to lose the poor actor who was quickly left in the dust.

“That scrub just had to-” Atsumu stopped when he saw that you weren’t there right behind him.

Apparently, the ghost-actor wasn't the only one he left behind in his speed. 

“Crap!” 

With a curse, Atsumu hurriedly retraced his steps. He hadn’t meant to do that, you just-

He just-

He just didn’t _feel_ you, _couldn’t_ , and- 

You must have slipped out of his grasp before he realized and-

“Tsum-Tsum?”

Atsumu skidded to a stop, foot staggering on the first step of the escalator that would take him back up to where he left the faux ghost and where he was certain you were still.

But…

Atsumu turned around, and there you were. 

You were behind him, standing by a circle of couches, giving him yet another beautiful ( _ethereal_ ) smile. 

How did he miss you- and that smile he wished he could see everyday-, even if it was in his hurried frenzy to find you?

A breath of relief left Atsumu at the sight of you, his shoulders deflating together with the fall of his chest. 

He jogged up to you with a flurry of apologies breezing past his mouth and into the chilly air.

“I swear I didn’t mean to leave ya’ behind! That fuckin’ ghost just came outta nowhere and- I swear if he pops up again I’m gonna give him hell for-”

His nervous rant stopped when the frigid touch of your fingers brushed his cheeks, freezing the army of words in his throat. Atsumu isn’t even sure why he felt nervous. 

“I know, ‘Tsumu. It’s okay.”

There is something about the sad way you’re smiling up at him that he didn’t like.  
He loved all your smiles, loved everything about you (except maybe the way you would _always_ take Osamu’s side against him in anything) but he certainly didn’t like that look in your eye and that downward tug on one corner of your lip.

Your hands bundled the cloth of the jersey that is honestly starting to suffocate Atsumu with its small fit.

_It still fits._

It’s tight and uncomfortable, but Atsumu is _adamant_ that it still fits.

He didn’t get where he is in his career without sheer determination, dedication, and willpower. If he set his mind to it, Atsumu is absolutely positive he can do anything and make anything happen; for him and for you.

And this is no different.

He is certain that it is no different, is as certain as Osamu is his blood and you’re the only one he can ever love, no matter what happens and in whatever forms and-

“‘Tsumu...I think we shouldn’t do this anymore next year.”

Your voice, unearthly in its melody to his ears, fell over Atsumu as an icy shawl that gently wrapped around his shoulders with a bitter vice.  
To Atsumu, it is always welcoming to hear your voice, to hear you speak (and ever since three years ago, more so than ever) but those words were not words Atsumu ever wanted to hear.

Atsumu- _immediately, reflexively, instinctively_ \- understood that you weren’t talking about you two spending your summers at Onigiri Miya and another haunted house for your anniversary the following year. Or the year after that. And the one after.

He definitely preferred if you were talking about that instead, about no longer scaring yourselves silly on everything horror and stuffing yourselves full with the tastes of summer.

(but you weren’t.)

He would give all of those up in a heartbeat rather than what you were suggesting.

“I love you.” 

The words spilled from his mouth without thought.

And Atsumu was graced with a larger smile that was even sadder than before for his trouble.

“I know.” You know everything about him so well, don’t you?

“I don’t want to-” Yeah, you definitely know this too.

“I love you too, ‘Tsumu. So, so, so much.”

And Atsumu knows that.

Else, _you wouldn’t be here at this time of the year with him._

“That’s why we need to stop.”

You would have been with your family like the rest of the souls that crawled this planet, visiting them and not him and his forsaken ass.

“So let’s make the best of this one.”

Even with his old jersey- _your_ jersey, really-, wrapped tightly around him, Atsumu felt cold as a ghost.

And he finally felt that maybe the jersey was indeed _too tight_ and perhaps didn’t fit anymore.

✺✺✺✺✺

The walk back to your place is silent.

It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

There is a certain tension that clung to the air and haunted every space and breath between you and Atsumu ever since that particular moment at the department store.

You and Atsumu didn’t complete the escape in the end.

(can’t the two of you at least escape this fate?)

Atsumu could feel the furious flappings of anxiousness in his stomach, and the dry sifting of rough soil on his tongue, crumbling down his throat and settling atop the coffin of dread within.

He didn’t want tonight with you to end.

He didn’t want whatever you and him had been doing for the past three years to end.

But the hands of his watch pointed to 4:34am and with each tick and slide of the long hand, more soil was shoveled into his stomach by the looming Mortician known as time.

He’s running out of time. _You’re_ running out of time.

A cold finger poked his cheek and Atsumu looked down- desolate, hopeless; like all the joy and good in the world is about to disappear and for Atsumu, it is.

Because you are his joy, you are his good and you were going to leave him.

Again.

[4:44]

You kissed him on his cheek, tugging him over the last steps that brought you and him to your final destination of the short, short night.

Standing before your home, neither you and Atsumu spoke but there is a light smile, a bright smile, on your face whilst Atsumu is stiff as stone.

“Why?”

Atsumu finally managed to croak out.

Why are you doing this? Did he not do good enough?

Why are you leaving him _again_?

“They looked at you weird, ‘Tsumu.” 

“Ya' know that _I don’t give a shit_ about what they or anyone thinks-!”

Atsumu heard his own voice break.

 _Felt_ it break.

“...but I care, ‘Tsumu.”  
Ugh, why can’t you stop smiling at him like that? It’s so...so sad, so _accepting_ , and he just doesn’t want to see it.  
“Well, ya' don't have to care about the-”

“ _-I care_ because you still have so much to live for, so much left to achieve in your life, ‘Tsumu, and you...you shouldn’t be tied down by me.”

  
Had you always felt that he was tied down by the ghost of you for the last three years? Because Atsumu didn’t feel that way at all and he was about to tell you that, yell it at you for the entire neighborhood to hear but you wrapped yourself around him.

And inhaled the scent of him and his jersey.

Atsumu is always warm but even he couldn’t help but shiver at the frigid contact of your skin.

You’ve always been susceptible to the cold.

[5:00]

“‘Samu is too nice to say anything but he _looked_ at you today, ‘Tsumu.”

Atsumu might have played it casually and pretended he didn’t see it, but you saw the way Osamu looked at the jersey laid across the empty counter chair next to Atsumu, the way his brows slanted when Atsumu ordered two plates of food- his favorite and your favorite-, and the purse of his lips when only one bite was taken from your favorite onigiri.

You didn’t miss the sad and cheerless glimmer in his pretty gray eyes when he looked at Atsumu, his brother.

“Then there were all those people from the escape game. They kept staring at you and we both know it isn’t because you’re a pro athlete.”

Atsumu might have been able to ignore their eyes but you didn’t have the same fortitude as him. You saw their judgemental gazes towards him, how they thought he might have been loose in the head because he was acting and moving weird, curling and bending around empty air; thought he might have been lonely because he was at an escape game meant for couples and friends alone, and might have been overheard talking to himself.

“And even that ghost you kept cursing for interrupting us-” you giggled softly and Atsumu could only wrap you tighter into him with his jersey as if he could keep you if he just held on harder. Your laughter fizzled and there was a sniffle against his shirt. 

“-you left too fast to hear it but...he was saying you were a weirdo for standing there, talking to yourself.”

Another audible sniffle. Louder this time. 

You were trembling now, and Atsumu knew it wasn't because you felt cold. You always felt cold now anyways.

“I don’t want this for you, ‘Tsumu. You deserve more.”

[5:05]

“I love you, 'Tsumu.”

Is there a God? 

“So I’m letting you go.”

  
Atsumu finds himself wanting to ask you, if there is one, and if He would be willing to turn back time to three years ago; to before the moment the light turned green and you took your first steps on the ominous arrows of white that led you away from him.

Regardless of the answer though, a part of Atsumu is already starting to understand that you meant what you said about...about not doing this anymore.

That this will be the last time.

“So...you have to let me go too. Or...”

That there won’t be any more good food and laughter at Onigiri Miya or anywhere else, no more ghost stories around campfires or nights huddled underneath blankets with the latest horror hit; no more lazy beach days and money spent on photo souvenirs from a haunted house.

At least, there won’t be any more with you in them.

“I won’t be able to move on.”

It is now 5:14am on August 16th.

And every year since three years ago, between the days of August 13th to 16th, your spirit would return to this world to Atsumu, instead of your family as traditional Obon beliefs dictated.

Every year on August 13th since three years ago, the ghost of you appeared to Atsumu. And he would do all the things he did with you when you were still alive: as if you are _still alive._

And Atsumu waited for these special three days every single year, for the last three years.

But now, as his watch ticked to 5:16am, you pressed cold lips to Atsumu in one last fervent kiss, pouring all your love and passion and feelings for this one man into it and all Atsumu felt is air and a frigid chill all over him.

He sees you; your soul and your spirit.

But he can't _feel_ you; he hasn't been able to since you were laid to rest.

[5:17am]

It would have been the summer of Atsumu's seventh year with you if you were still here.

[5:18am]

Dawn.

The old caretaker of the local graveyard paused at the gates leading into the quiet grounds, scratching his head in surprise at the sight of a blonde man sitting with his back against a tombstone, head pressed into his knees. He thought he kind of recognizes that mop of blonde hair from TV.

The old caretaker glanced at the smooth stone the young man was sat against, and his eyes turned down in sadness and pity. Ah, he remembered that one.

A young girl.

A car accident.

Three years ago.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> **Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom originating from the Ghost Festival of China; it is believed the ghosts of the dead return to visit their families during this period.
> 
> So uhh did your wig get snatched? *gently tries to reach out for everyone's wig with this*
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I would really appreciate feedback! <33 Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Also, for those that follow GWS/me, I made a discord server recently :)
> 
> [Discord for Ghosts We See/Renesis](https://discord.gg/xgPgMtR)


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